Guiding means for sliding closure of hopper discharge opening



June 12. 1956 G. a. DoREY GUIDING MEANS FOR SLIDING cLosuRE OF HOPPER DISCHARGE OPENING 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 26, 1952 INVENTOR. Geo/ye E. 7o/63% 3g/VMM y June 12, 1956 G. B. DoREY 2,750,074

GUIDING MEANS FOR SLIDING CLOSURE OF HOPPER DISCHARGE OPENING Filed Deo. 26, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. eB. 27o/"ey,

United States Patent O GUIDIN G MANS FOR SLIDIN G CLOSURE OF HOPPER DISCHARGE OPENING George B. Dorey, Westmount, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Enterprise Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application December 26, 1952, Serial No. 328,027

2 Claims. (Cl. 222-80) This invention relates to an improved guiding means for preventing upward movement of a sliding gate such as employed in connection with the discharge opening of a load containing hopper. It constitutes an improvement over the construction disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 316,389 tiled October 23, 1952.

rl`he objects of the invention, among others, are to provide an improved guiding means for the sliding gate of a discharge opening to limit upward movement thereof whereby a guiding member formed as a separate element from the frame is inserted in place subsequent to the usual machining operation; to provide guiding means which offer minimum obstruction to the iiow of lading and which extend generally in the direction of ow of the lading over the hopper walls; to provide for sandwiching the guiding members between the hopper walls of a frame and the walls of the hopper and provide suitable indents in the former for receiving the said guiding members; and to provide guiding walls at the sides of a gate for cooperation with guiding plate like members on the frame.

For further comprehension of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of a portion of a load containing hopper having a frame embodying the improved guiding means;

Figure 2 is a plan View of the structure illustrated in Figure l with the hopper walls omitted;

Figure 3 is a vertical end elevational view of the hopper shown in Figure 1 as viewed from right to left;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on a line 4 4 of Figure l;

Figure 5 is a detached vertical side elevational view of the sliding gate;

Figure 6 is a plan view of the gate shown in Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a vertical end view of the gate shown in Figure 5.

In said drawings the load containing hopper is shown as including inner and outer side walls as indicated at 10 and 11, respectively, which meet with sloping end Walls 12. and 13 to form a foursided hopper having a discharge opening. Borderng the discharge opening is a frame member having walls 14, 15, 16, and 17 overlying the walls 10, 11, 12, and 13 of the hopper, the walls 14, and 16 extending upwardly from the outer side of a ledge 18 extending around three sides of the opening and which form supports for a sliding gate 19 when the latter is positioned to close the discharge opening.

Extending downwardly below the gate 19 is a foursided chute extension 20 of appreciable depth which extends on three sides downwardly from the inner edge of the ledge 18 and the fourth side is in the form of a transversely extending wall 21 lying beneath the gate 19 and is formed at its upper margin with a horizontally disposed shelf 22 which constitutes the lower wall of a slot 23 through which the gate 19 projects and is slidable. The upper margin of the slot 23 is formed by the lower 2,750,074 Patented June 12, 1956 ICC 'on a rotatable operating shaft 28 which, in turn, is supported in bearings 29 located at the respective sides of 'the frame.

The main body of the gate is preferably tapered to present a surface 30 inclined relatively to the surface of the supporting ledge 18 in a direction to recede from the lading as the gate 19 is moved to open position. The gate 19 at each side is formed with a guiding wall portion 31 which is of substantially uniform depth throughout the maior portion of its length and above said guiding wall 31 are guiding members 32 and 33, respectively, carried by the respective side walls 14 and 15. The guiding members 32 and 33 are sandwiched between the overlying wall members 14 and 15 of the frame and related hopper walls 10 and 11 as shown in Figure 4. In order to accommodate the members 32 and 33, there are provided pockets 34 and 35 indented in the walls 14 and 15 of the frame. The pockets 34 and 35 are preferably closed at their upper ends as indicated at 36 and 37 to prevent percolation of moisture between the walls 14 and 15 of the frame and the hopper walls 10 and 11. The guiding members 32 and 33 are welded in place as indicated at 38 and 39 and when in position lie at load shedding angles corresponding to the slope of the hopper walls 10 and 11 and consequently do not present any obstruction to the free ilow of lading. Furthermore the guiding members 32 and 33 expose a comparatively narrow edge portion in the general direction of movement of the gate 19 and in this respect operate as chisels to cut through any compacted lading, such as cement, which sometimes adheres to the surface of the hopper walls 10 and 11 and the upper surface of the guiding portion 31 of the gate 19 and which at times is apt to become wet and harden at the bottom of the hopper. The guiding members 32 and 33 are of comparatively narrow width and, while a plurality of these members may be used on each side of the gate, only one such member per side is shown in the present embodiment.

Rotation of the shaft 28 is elected by a suitable operating handle at one side of the frame, the hub portion of which is indicated at 40. The gate 19 is supported in open position by means of the usual extension runways which are indicated at 41.

The herein described improvement involving the application of guiding members 32 and 33 after the frame has been made simplies the manufacture of the frame in that the necessity for cores in casting a frame is eliminated and furthermore ready access to the gate supporting surface of the ledge 18 is made possible for machining.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a load containing hopper having a discharge opening and a sliding gate for closing the opening, the gate having guiding wall portions along its sides the upper surfaces of which are below the upper surface of said gate, a frame bordering the hopper having ledges at each side thereof for supporting the gate in its sliding movement and upstanding walls extending from said ledges and overlying the hopper walls, and means for restraining the gate against upward movement and facilitating opening thereof when the same is held against opening by compacted lading including chisel like guiding members sandwiched between the upstanding side walls of the frame and the hopper walls overlaid by the upstanding walls, said chisel like guiding members being relatively narrow and interposed in and coextensive with the respective upstanding walls and overlying limited portions of said guiding wall portions of the gate when it is closed which constitute a small portion of the full length thereofand v extending only over said guiding wall portions and below said upper surface of the gate, said chisel like guiding members having narrow edge portions to cut through compacted lading when the gate is moved to open position.

2. In a load containing hopper having a discharge opening and a sliding gate for closing the opening, a frame surrounding the opening having ledges at each side thereof for supporting the gate in its sliding movement and walls leading upwardly from said ledges and overlying the hopper walls, indents formed in said overlying walls of the frame, and chisel like guiding members in the form References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,143,641 McGregor June 22, 1915 2,072,292 Campbell Mar. 2, 1937 2,222,280 Batho Nov. 19, 1940 2,630,768 Dorey Mar. 10, 1953 

